19th Hole: Brian Renschler
Brian Renschler
Director of Agronomy // Talisker Club at Tuhaye (Utah)
Brian, thanks for the tour. Let me buy you a drink, what can I get you? Gin and tonic.
Tell me about the Club at Tuhaye. As you saw, the course is strategic golf — it’s definitely not easy. The nickname is Too-hard, not Tuhaye. But it’s an aesthetically appealing course as far as visuals and scenery. Don’t try to crush the ball out here, be strategic and you’ll play fine.
How did you get into the industry? I had to do an internship for my college degree in horticulture. I didn’t want to work in a greenhouse or on a nursery. I wanted to work on a golf course. I went to Edwards, Colo., the Club at Cordillera, the Mountain Course and did an internship. I’ve been doing this ever since.
Tell me about your family. I’m married, two kids. My wife is from South Africa. We have a 7- and a 12-year-old, a boy and a girl. Tobi is my 12-year-old daughter and Lincoln is my 7-year-old hellraiser. I met my wife while we were both at Cordillera, she worked in human resources. We’ve been married since 2009. We’ve also have a Bullmastiff dog named Bo.
What’s your favorite tool to get the job done? I’ve got lots of tools, but patience, learning to breathe and taking it one day at a time are my most valuable tools.
What teams do you root for? I am more of a sports fan than a team fan. I grew up in North Dakota, so you either root for the Vikings, Packers or Broncos. I was a John Elway fan so I still root for the Broncos. I mostly just want to see a good, competitive game.
Give my readers a recommendation, it could be a book, TV show, movie, podcast, anything. The only thing I recommend is breathing — I’m serious. This is definitely a high stress industry, guys get burnt out. I’ve learned that when I do get stressed out, I take five minutes to just breathe for a little while. I don’t get stressed too often, I’m a laid-back guy, but it helps.
Aside from seeing the course, what do you recommend people do if they’re in the area? There’s so much to do in Utah. If you’ve never been to southern Utah — Zion, Canyonlands National Park, St. George, Moab — it’s totally different than what you’re seeing up here. There’s so many different climates and things to do in Utah.
What is the best thing about having your job? Seeing what we can do in such a short growing season. It comes out of the winter looking not good — and that’s a nice way to put it. Seeing it get better and better and better, and by the time it looks good? We’re ready to put it to bed.